Breathing Space (Ellis McFadden Mysteries #1)

Chapter 6

Starliner Athos Nexus Main Chat

Chattykaffi: Happy Monday morning, cruisers! We’ll be passing through a star canyon at 0900 hours. The observation loops on Decks 18 and 39 can get crowded, so please arrive early for the best viewing. Quick reminder that we’ll be docking at the Aetrean Starport this evening. Those disembarking must be out of their cabins and checked in with the porter in the Stellar Lounge by 1500 hours. We hope you enjoyed your time with us and that you’ll return to fly with us again!

Starliner Athos Nexus Chat 3

Chattykaffi: Does anyone know where Andrew Woolsey is? He’s late for the news report. Andrew, where are you?

I ’d only just stepped out of the vapor shower when a soft chime announced someone at my door. Who in heaven’s name could that be at this hour? Thankfully, I wasn’t hungover. I’d had another glass of water before bed and had added vitamins to my shower this morning anyway. Couldn’t hurt.

I opened the bathroom door and stuck my head out. Harry was right outside, waiting on me. “Harry, I could have tripped over you, you silly thing.”

He didn’t answer, not that I’d expected him to. He flopped over onto his back and looked cute. “Just a second,” I called out. I was not answering the door in a towel.

I hastily pulled on my robe, finger-combed my hair, and stepped over Harry as I went to see who it was. The little screen by my door showed my daughter standing in the corridor, already dressed for work in her celestial blue jumpsuit decked out with all her ribbons and insignia. She looked beautiful, although I remained steadfast in my belief that a slightly longer hairstyle would suit her better.

Appearance aside, my first instinct was that something was wrong. Why else would she come to see me so early?

I pushed the button to open the door. “Hazel. What a nice surprise. Is this a social visit, or has something gone horribly awry?”

She frowned and glanced down the corridor, which was a little busy. “Can we talk inside?”

“Of course.” I stepped out of the way to let her in. The door closed behind her. “What’s going on?”

“What’s going on is that Andrew Woolsey was found dead in his quarters this morning and you were the last one in his apartment.”

“What? Dead? I just saw him yesterday.”

“I know,” Hazel said. “That’s why I’m here.”

Harry, who’d followed me out, meowed.

“Not now, Harry.” I shook my head at my daughter. “Dead? I don’t understand.”

“Neither do I, Mom.” Hazel paced the living room. “What were you doing in his quarters?”

“Dropping off a book he’d asked me to print. And to deliver, by the way.” I sighed. “I probably shouldn’t have even printed it. That was his third one. There’s a limit, you know.”

“Mom. This isn’t about the book.”

“I get that it’s not about the book, but I thought you should know.” I didn’t like the man, but I certainly hadn’t wished him dead. “Did he have a heart attack or something? He looked fit, but you know sometimes that’s not?—”

“The ASF suspect foul play. And I have to tell you, you’re a potential suspect.”

My mouth fell open. I gave myself a moment to process. “Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“I had nothing to do with his death. Nothing . The very fact that anyone thinks otherwise is ludicrous.”

“I believe you, and I agree, but I can’t stop the investigation.” Hazel took a deep breath. “Where did you get the code you used to open the door?”

“It was in my job packet.” There were new lines around her eyes. Maybe she needed a better moisturizer.

She pursed her lips. “It shouldn’t have been. You don’t have clearance for that code.”

“You said I was the equivalent of a GS-9. Would that not come with a fairly high level of clearance?” I’d gone through all kinds of questioning when I’d been hired. A lot of which had to do with getting that clearance. I knew, because I’d asked about the quantity and breadth of those questions.

Hazel nodded. “I suppose it would. I guess I never thought about it.”

“I assumed the code was so that I could retrieve any unreturned library cards or overdue print books. Or deliver books,” I hastily added.

Hazel cut her eyes at me. “I don’t know anything about that, and there’s not much on this vessel I don’t know about.”

“Well, now you do.” It made sense to me. Although perhaps accessing other people’s quarters was a tiny bit of a gray area. I wasn’t sure Hazel would appreciate that, as she was military and I was a civilian. We operated according to somewhat different rules and regulations.

“Okay, well … if that’s true, and I hope it is, it’ll work in your favor.”

“ If ? Are you calling your mother a liar?”

“What?” The strength of her upbringing resulted in her having an appropriately horrified look. “Mom, no, not at all. Just saying we can’t assume anything at this point. You’re still going to have to answer questions. A security officer will be here any minute to take you to their offices and find out what you had to do with Woolsey’s death.”

“Let me repeat that what I had to do with his death is nothing , in case I didn’t make myself clear the first time. I will admit I didn’t like the man. He was arrogant and bossy and thought he was better than everyone else, but I didn’t wish him dead.” I didn’t have time to go talk to a security officer. I had to get the library open. I had classes coming in.

“Good to know.”

“Hazel, I understand you’re stressed, but I assure you Woolsey’s death is as much of a surprise to me as it is to you.”

She put her hands on her hips and nodded. “I don’t doubt that. But you can imagine how this looks. That my mother was the last one in the dead man’s quarters.”

“Yes, but again, I was only dropping off a book that I’d printed specifically for him. One that he’d asked me to deliver. He wasn’t even there!”

“Yes, he was. Time of death has already been determined to be approximately twenty-two thirty hours. The coroner ran the numbers based on body temp and lividity.”

So ten thirty. I’d been there just around ten. I sucked in air. “You mean, Andrew Woolsey was in his place while I was there? Still … alive?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I mean. You didn’t see him?”

“No. There was no answer when I rang his bell.” I got a little panicky. “Do you think the killer was in there with me?”

“Possibly.” Her brow furrowed. “If Andrew wasn’t there, why did you go in?”

“Because I didn’t want to have to see Andrew anyway. Also, the book was heavy, and I’d already hauled it down there, plus I’d had some cider and all I wanted to do was go home and go to bed. That’s why I used my code. I didn’t want to lug it back to the library. Or my place.”

Hazel rubbed her forehead. “So you were also intoxicated?”

I crossed my arms and gave her a stern look, daring her to say anything about me drinking. “Mildly. It’s not a crime.”

“No, but murder is.” Her expression darkened. “This is not good.”

“No, it’s not. But it’s not surprising, either.”

She glanced at me. “Why do you say that?”

I sighed. My hair was going to be a curly mess if it continued to dry on its own without a little product in it. “He wasn’t well-liked. Ask around. I’m sure others will tell you the same thing.”

Hazel looked at me like I was crazy. “Mom, he anchored the news report.”

“So? That’s no indicator of actual character. Did you know him personally?”

“No, but?—”

“Well, I did. And I can tell you he was condescending and difficult and deliberately not nice. The whole news report persona was a big put-on. At least it was where I was concerned.”

Hazel seemed to deflate slightly. “I’m sorry about that, Mom. I can’t tell you a whole lot, but he was working on something … important.”

“I know. His big project. But was it important enough that someone would want to kill him?”

Hazel lifted her gaze without raising her head. “Maybe. I don’t know.”

That really wasn’t good. I didn’t like the man, but I would have never wanted anything this bad to happen to him. And to think that a scientific breakthrough might not happen because of this death just made it all worse. “Hopefully, he had documented everything and those notes will allow his research to continue.”

Hazel nodded. “That would be good. Listen, I’d better let you get dressed. I’ll let security know they can just come talk to you at the library, all right?”

“Okay. Thanks. Sorry you have to deal with this. It can’t be easy.” This was the first death on board the Athos since we’d begun our journey. Probably wouldn’t be the last, but that didn’t make it any less awful.

She squared her shoulders. “It’s not, but it’s part of the job.” She gave me a quick smile. “Have a good day, Mom.”

“You too, sweetheart.”

Hazel gave my hand a quick squeeze before making her way out. I went back to getting ready. Since my hair was nearly dry, I scrunched some serum into it and let it be as wavy as it wanted. I tied a green and white scarf into it, then put my jumpsuit on. I added green jade hoops and a green jade bracelet. I did my makeup quickly and arrived at the library only a few minutes late, but there was no one at the door, so I hadn’t kept anyone waiting.

I was glad for that, but I couldn’t stop thinking about Andrew. What had actually happened? Could it really be murder? Could I really be considered a suspect?

I’d brought the tote bag back with me, so I hung that up in my office, then went through my usual routine of turning lights on and making sure everything was where it was supposed to be.

As Harry and I walked the stacks, my mind turned to Andrew’s book. It would be returned to the library, I imagined. Unless whoever took over his work decided they needed it. But if I got it back, maybe I could have a crack at deciphering what was in it. I might be able to come up with something that would shine a light on who was responsible for his death.

Actually, I might be able to do that now if there was a digital copy.

I went to the front desk, tapped the screen to life and did a quick search. Nope. No digital copy. That was often the case when it came to old books and ancient manuscripts.

But I could make a digital copy when the physical book came back. I could also run the text through a translator. I’d have to if I wanted to know what was in the book.

Itzak came in at eleven. I was happy to see him. No one from the security office had been in to talk to me yet, but with Itzak here, I could have that conversation in my office and not right out in front of everyone.

“Hiya, boss. Hiya, Harry.”

Harry woke from his nap in his charging bed and meowed in greeting.

“Hi, Itzak.” I smiled. He always called me boss. He was a very handsome young man, which no doubt contributed to his popularity with our female clientele. “How are you doing?”

“Pretty good. How are you?”

“I’m all right.”

He went to put his lunch in the breakroom, then returned and clocked in. “I’m sure you’ve heard already. The whole ship is buzzing with the news.”

“You mean about Andrew Woolsey?”

Itzak nodded. “Can you believe it? Dead. Who do you think did it?”

So, apparently, not only was the ship buzzing about it, but the buzz was murder. “It could have been a heart attack.”

“Yeah, maybe.” He scrolled through his files on the screen, stopped when he found the right one, and started making some notes on his tablet. “But he had his share of frenemies.”

“You think?”

He gave me an odd glance. “ You didn’t like him very much.”

“No, I didn’t, but you saw how he was toward me.”

Itzak nodded. “I did. I didn’t like the way he was with you, either. And if he was like that with you, someone he should have been nice to, considering you were the source of his printed research material, can you imagine how he treated people he didn’t need?”

I could, actually.

He frowned. “I don’t understand why people are like that. It costs nothing to be kind.”

“You’re right. It doesn’t.”

“There’s too much meanness in the world. It needs more civility. More beauty.”

I couldn’t argue. He was right. He was actively doing something about it, too. Itzak sang with the men’s choir. I’d been to two of their performances. They were really good and very dedicated. It took time to do a thing like that so well, and all of it was completely voluntary.

There were no patrons nearby, but I leaned in closer anyway. “I need to tell you something, but I’d appreciate it if you kept it to yourself.”

His brow furrowed, and he set his tablet down to give me his full attention. “Of course.”

“I was at Woolsey’s last night. Right around the time he died. An officer from the security office is coming to talk to me.”

He blinked. “How did Woolsey seem?”

“I have no idea. I didn’t see him. I was under the impression he wasn’t home.”

“Oh.” Itzak grinned. “Well, you have nothing to worry about then. It’s not like you were in his quarters.”

“No, I was.” I sighed. “I was bringing him a book he’d asked me to print and deliver. I, um, have a code that gives me access for such things. Retrieving overdue print books, deliveries, and so on.”

“Oh.” His brows went up. “I was not aware of that.”

I probably shouldn’t be telling anyone about my clearance, but it was going to get out, wasn’t it? Nothing on this ship remained a secret for long. It was like living in a small town. That was also hurtling through space. “Well, now you know. It’s all perfectly kosher. And, in case you’re wondering, no, I didn’t have anything to do with his passing.”

Itzak immediately shook his head. “I’d never assume anything like that. You’re not remotely that kind of person, boss.”

“Thank you.” It touched me that he’d say that.

Harry chimed in with a soft meow, as if to say, “Yeah, I agree.”

I appreciated his support, too.